Eighth grader Aaron Fig thought carefully when it came time to choose a charitable cause to support for his bar mitzvah earlier this year. When his mom suggested USC Shoah Foundation, it spoke to him, he said, and he enlisted his friends and family to help.

“I looked at the website and I thought it was really cool,” Aaron said. “What really stuck with me was the fact that [USC Shoah Foundation] is saving memories. It’s filming people saying their stories that will be archived forever.”